


Camp Tartarus

by KnightOwl725



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Background Relationships, Charon/Hermes - Freeform, persephone/nyx/hades
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27356935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightOwl725/pseuds/KnightOwl725
Summary: Zagreus has spent his life cooped up among the woods, living and working at his father's campgrounds. After spending his spring hunting down his long-lost mother and reuniting his family, it's now their busiest time of year - summer. And with summer comes new families and new faces, including one particularly handsome face.Nyx and some of her large family have ventured out to the camp to get away from it all and spend some time together, in addition to her reconnecting with her old "friends" Persephone and Hades. And if her Thanatos is drawn in by her friends' charming and energetic son, well, who is she to judge?Hades/Monster Camp crossover kinda, for Hades Nanowrimo Bingo!
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 49





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> For November's Hades Nanowrimo Bingo! Check us out under #Hadesbingo on twitter and tumblr.  
> Prompt: Home

Tartarus, as unfriendly a name as it was, was the premier summer camp for adults. Adult families, corporate teams, couples, all sorts of people made the journey out into the Underwoods to stay in the cramped cabins, eat mediocre food, and participate in grueling team-building activities.

How Hades ended up in charges of such an organization was a mystery to his only son, Zagreus. Well, mystery in the sense that it made no sense. Zagreus knew the story from his uncles - their father left them three businesses after his death, and they drew straws. Hades drew the short straw in every sense of the word. While Poseidon owns a series of worldwide water parks and aquariums and Zeus an entire luxury airline, Hades had just one quiet campground.

Some kids dreams of sleepaway camp. Zagreus had lived with it all his days, and now in his twenties with no sign of ever escaping the dense woods, he had to say it wasn't so great.

Maybe it would be better if his father didn't keep the most important, most vital work locked away in his office, never trusting the young, if dedicated Zagreus to touch it. Which was fair, considering Zagreus was no good with the business side of things. Particularly when no one thought to teach him.

It was easier as an adult, really. As a child he was completely bereft of anyone his age. It left him lonely, small, inadequate compared to the towering figures always around him.

His days at the camp would have been completely unbearable if not for Achilles, his mentor and one of his father's most loyal staff members. He met his every task with a calm, content sort of focus that lived in contrast to Zagreus's more untamed, unpolished ways. But it was that endless patience that allowed Zagreus to learn from him, survival skills, building, woodworking, cooking, even how to fight. It was a close bond, something like an elder brother, perhaps. And it was the only thing that kept Zagreus sane through the endless summer that was his home.

"We're getting a new group in today," Achilles told Zagreus, reviewing the bit of paperwork detailing their new campers. "A family. Wealthy, it seems."

"Everyone who comes here is wealthy," Zagreus muttered, focused on the bit of carving he was doing. He was trying to made a wooden version of their dog, the enormous and endearing great dane. The ears required a steady hand and careful breath.

With that part done, he released a breath and relaxed. "So new people? Entirely new?"

Achilles nodded. "Yes, seems someone your mother recommended visit."

"Hm?" That caught his attention, as Achilles knew it would. 

Zagreus had spent the past five years hunting down the woman who had given birth to him, despite his father's every warning and threat and act of sabotage. And now Persephone was among them again, building a garden just as she built a relationship with the son she thought lost.

"Someone she knows?" 

Achilles shrugged. "I would presume. You should ask her."

"I will," he said, stowing the carving blade and his Cerberus-themed project.

Finding his mother was strangely difficult, despite his near-perfect knowledge of the campgrounds. Perhaps it was because she was still so new, only a few months back into this new version of an old life. He always expected her to be in her garden, but he never seemed to catch her in those moments. After some poking around, he found her cleaning out one of the cabins.

The cabin doors were propped open with a hefty rock. Persephone was stepping outside and down the cabin’s steps, arms laden with dark bags of trash.

"Mother, let me handle that," he said.

He stepped forward, gently taking the bags from her arms. 

"Good morning Zagreus," she said. "Warm one, isn't it?"

"It's always hot here. Achilles said you're expecting a friend."

She gestured back to the cabin, furniture splayed about and more bags of trash within. Dust, he'd assume. "A friend of both of ours - your father and mine. I'm clearing this one out for her. I take it you haven't met Nyx?"

"No, though if Father had her visit there's a good chance he kept me busy so he wouldn't have to itnriduce me."

"Don't be silly, Nyx will like you just fine."

"Nyx isn't the problem," Zagreus muttered, setting the bags on the grass. He might as well pull all of them out and help his mother finish cleaning before taking them to the dumpster. "She's coming with family?"

Following his mother inside, Zagreus found the cabin to be empty aside from the base furniture. This particular cabin was one of their larger ones, but it was also a bit on the edge of camp, so not terribly popular. Their larger cabins were more like connected cabins, attached with a door like a hotel suite. This one had a small main area and three "bedrooms". They had other cabins available, but he supposed his mother had her reasons for fixating on this one.

All of the decor was mysteriously gone, not that they kept much around if Zagreus himself didn't put it up. The sheets and mattresses were gone, all the doors wide open, windows sparkling clean and as open as they would go.

Persephone plucked the broom from its place against the wall and set about knocking a few cobwebs from the ceiling. "Yes, Nyx and her family. Well, some of her family. Her daughters couldn't make it - they're very busy women I understand. But Nyx and her parent and her two sons. I haven't seen her sons in, well, since before you were born."

Older, then. Zagreus deflated a little. He was an adult now, yes, but the prospect of there being anyone his age around would never cease to fill him with a childlike excitement. 

"I think she and her parents are hoping to reconnect. They fell out of touch for a long time. Different circumstances than ours, of course, but distant all the same. I got back in touch with her when I came back, so I'm just learning about them reconnecting. I told her she ought to come out here, get some quiet time together. She decided to invite her children, likely to avoid the same problem with them down the line."

"That's thoughtful of her," he said. "So I'm guessing she's not the mattress type?"

"Hm?" Persephone paused to stare at him. "Oh! No, of course she is. I took everything out to get it cleaned properly. Started washing all the sheets we had covering the furniture, set Meg about cleaning the mattresses last night so they should be done any moment. Had to rush order some new sheets - we've gotten dangerously low."

"That's what I told Father two months ago," Zagreus agreed, mother and son sharing a moment of exasperation. "He said the sheets were fine as they were, that no one had complained yet."

"He's not an easy man to complain to."

"Exactly!"

Persephone chuckled, sweeping up the last of the dust that had fallen to the floor. "You'll help me finish preparing? I could use your eye for decor to make this place a little more comfortable for them."

Zagreus smiled. "Of course."

It took them the rest of the morning, several gallons of water, and a great deal of sweat to get the cabin sorted. From Zagreus's stockpile of unapproved purchases they found a collection of small rugs, a few lamps, some pictures and art, and a few odds and ends to fill the cabin's rooms with. 

"Are you sure they'll like it?" Zagreus asked as they reviewed their work. He dragged a hand through his hair and winced at how wet it was. This summer would be a rough one. "It's a bit dark."

"They're that sort," she said. "I don't think I've ever seen Nyx in anything brighter than burgundy. I remember the boys being quite similar. Well, Hypnos less so. Hm."

Zagreus laughed, imagining a dramatically goth family. "I'll make sure to keep an eye on them for signs of heatstroke."

She nodded severely. "You probably should. Oh-- You were joking. Zagreus!"

She laughed and jostled him slightly. And wasn't it nice to have a parent with a sense of humor after all these years? Even Achilles had a severe mood about him always. 

"Persephone?" came a smooth, low feminine voice.

They turned from their place in the cabin's doorway to see the promised Nyx and family.

The only woman present, whom Zagreus assumed to be Nyx, was tall and sleight and willowy with dark, almost purple-black hair and a deep purple ensemble that granted some legitimacy to his concerns on heatstroke. Persephone rushed forward to embrace her, laughing out a greeting in her jubilant way.

"All these years, and you're just the same as I remember," Persephone said as she pulled back. "You look marvelous Nyx."

"You, too, have aged well," Nyx said, the faintest smile on her lips. She glanced up, over Persephone's head to Zagreus intently. There was something intense about her expression without being aggressive. She seemed wise, and he supposed she must be to be friends with both his parents. 

"Zagreus, this is Nyx," Persephone said, stepping out of their way. 

Still coated in a film of dust and sweat and heat, Zagreus kept his distance with a polite, "It's good to meet you, Nyx."

Another tiny smile. "And a pleasure to meet you, at last."

"Oh goodness!" Persephone cried, hurrying across the group to a pair of young men. "Look at the two of you! You can't be the boys I remember!"

"But they are," Nyx assured her, and Zagreus wondered if there wasn't the tiniest hint of a joke in her voice. "Children seem to grow, despite my best efforts."

"It's all the sleep, they tell me!" said one of the two men, a little shorter and with bright silver, curling hair. He looked half-asleep even as he stood there, though his voice was light and energetic. "Though maybe that's why I came out so much shorter than Thanatos!"

The other young man made a noise in his throat, perhaps agreement or agitation? He was in fact taller, with more tanned skin but matching silver hair. He wore a kind of black tank top, but the kind that inexplicably came with a hood. He lowered his hood to greet Persephone, listening politely as she raved about how handsome the two had become.

Not so much older, after all, Zagreus thought. Alright, this summer might be a good one after all.


	2. Charmed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanatos POV as he navigates his first few days at Camp Tartarus and his weird totally insignificant interest in the campground guy Zagreus. Also Hypnos just took the wheel for this chapter and then fell asleep at said wheel.

How many years had it been since Thanatos walked this earth? The campgrounds had a fuzzy familiarity, like something from a vague and strange dream. He could almost see the towering form of Hades himself back then, could see his mother embrace Persephone, could remember how the mother-to-be held his little hand against her stomach.

But then, those could just as easily be false memories, planted by his own ego determined to conjure images from his mother's rare stories of the past.

Nyx had visited the campgrounds in the years since, now and then, but never for long enough to know Hades' son, or even that he existed. After a painful separation, it seemed Hades wanted to keep the child thought lost a secret to spare any more pain. It seemed only right that this Zagreus had done the work to bring his family back together.

Thanatos would not naturally admit it, but he would do as much for his family, if not more. Still, asking him to go camping in any sense was a reach. But Charon couldn't make it, his sisters were busy, and even Hypnos's enamored spouse wasn't able to join them. He took that sacrifice for his mother's sake. A few weeks out in the woods. It could be worse.

He couldn't decide if the famed son would make his summer worse or better. When he first saw Zagreus, standing just inside their cabin, hand in his hair, looking strong and rugged in a way that did not allow for much sense to be present, he thought the man was...

Handsome. That was a safe enough term. Not entirely accurate, but safe. 

Of course their first few days were spent heavily embroiled in a sort of introduction to the camp, lead by a quiet man by the name of Achilles. But in the background, casting glimpses of himself then vanishing, was the ever-dashing Zagreus. And to say 'dashing', Thanatos meant literally. He ran far more than he walked, hardly stood still except to have a conversation. He had a smile like a trust fund business major - all cocky charm. But he spoke like a gentleman from a southern period film, without the accent. Polite words and a sincere kindness to him. These two pieces of his, well, charm were as contrasting as his eyes. Thanatos wasn't certain he liked how easily he noticed the man. And yet, for all their parents' closeness and the frequent sightings, he barely spoke to him beyond introductions in those first few days. 

That was, until the end of their third night, when Hypnos emerged from his room in the cabin, clutching his phone with a dreamy expression. 

"She well?" Thanatos asked. Hypnos had either spoken to his wife or had a particularly peaceful nap with that expression, and the phone gave him away. Than himself was comfortably seated in the couch in the main area, reading in the lamplight until he grew tired enough to sleep.

"Oh, she's doing great, just great," Hypnos said cheerfully. "Told me all about her day. That new stew recipe is really working out, she said!"

Thanatos remembered his sister-in-law before she carried the title, back in college where she was known for her colorful pill collection and encyclopedic knowledge of "all the best ones", in her words. Now she was more excited to talk about stew with his laid-back brother every night than to experiment with the pill collection she maintained. And yet, she seemed much happier in this stage of life. If only a little less chaotic.

"Did Mom tell you about tomorrow? Dinner with the Hades family and all?"

"Hm?" Than looked up from his book. "Dinner with Hades?"

"Yup! And his family. It'll be great! Zagreus said their chef is making something special. Some old favorite of Mom's? Where is she, anyway?"

"She's out with Chaos, taking a walk." Thanatos looked back to his book, brows knit as he wondered at the strange feeling in his stomach. Nerves? What for?

Hypnos flopped onto the couch beside him, jostling his twin excessively. "Have you talked with Zagreus? He's nice! Real funny guy - said he'll get me an autograph from that ren faire performer I like."

"That's nice of him." Thanatos flipped onto the next page, eyes barely registering the words. "And no, we haven't spoken."

"Well, you'll get to tomorrow for sure! Zagreus said he was looking forward to getting to know you and everything. Did you know he's friends with Hermes?"

"He wants to get to know me?" Thanatos repeated. Then, after a beat, "He knows Charon's boyfriend?"

"Yeah! Small world, right?" Hypnos pulled one of the thick cushions from the back of the couch, which, frankly, offset the whole balance of the thing. Thanatos sighed and adjusted in his place. "Hermes came here for work a few years back, I guess, and they made friends! He's a real friendly guy, did I say that? You should talk to him. You really need more friends."

"Your concern is noted," Thanatos said, flipping another page, "and ignored."

Hypnos tossed his cushion onto the floor to sit up, facing Thanatos. "What're you pretending to read there? Anything good?"

Thanatos slammed the book onto his lap. "I'm not pretending to read anything!"

"Oh, sure! Course not!" As always Hypnos's voice was deceptively sincere and cheerful. "By the way, totally unrelated to your fake reading thing, but Zagreus is super single right now. Sure that won't interest you, but..."

Thanatos snapped his book shut and dropped it onto the end table at his side. Quickly, he stood and strode towards his own door. "Not having this conversation with you Hypnos."

"Okay!" Hypnos called after him. "Good night! Love you!"

Thanatos might have responded, he did love his twin, but then the giggle from the next room squashed any such possibility. Instead, he sulked through the room, changing his clothes and grumbling internally about the invasiveness of family. You look at one hot guy a few times and suddenly your brother is trying to play match-maker.

He was happy for his brother and his joy-filled marriage, even if the entire thing baffled him and everyone around them. Still, it seemed his brother was convinced that if he only found someone it would work out just as perfectly. 

Frankly, that didn't seem possible. Whatever strange relationship existed between Hypnos and Pasithea could not be replicated. 

It might be nice, though, to have his own version of that. Someday. With someone. But the campground guy who ran around barefoot half the time and was somehow more stubborn than Hades? Yeah, no way. 

Feeling better, nerves all calmed and stomach back to a calm state, Thanatos quietly settled into bed. Lights out, thin blanket draw, gazing out the window into the stars overhead. It was beautiful here, wasn't it? He listened to the soft, muffled sounds of the woods outside, drawing lines between stars until he drifted off.

Until he was awoken by the sharp pounding of a hammer on wood. Rubbing at his face, Thanatos blinked awake. The sun shone through the window, nearly blinding him as his eyes adjusted. Had he slept in? A quick look at his phone showed he did, but only a little. The hammering continued along with muffled voices coming from out front of the cabin. 

Thanatos shook himself awake and dressed quickly. Wasn't it a little early for all this noise? Maybe he'd ask them to stop and get some more rest. It was a vacation for the family, after all.

He walked out of his room and directly for the door, pulling it open with a terse, agitated expression. 

On the front porch stood his brother, smiling as bright as ever despite his eternally sleepy gaze. Kneeled on the ground, currently fixing a hole in their stairs, was Zagreus. He looked up, his mismatched eyes locking with Thanatos. Then, he smiled.


	3. Doom

The smile faded quickly. "Oh, did I wake you up? Hypnos, I thought--"

"Well, he's usually up at this hour so I guess I just assumed!" Hypnos said, smile unfaltering.

"Sorry, mate," Zagreus said, standing. "I thought everyone was up already. Didn't mean to wake you."

"It's not your fault, apparently," Thanatos said, turning his narrowed gaze onto Hypnos, who willfully avoided looking at him. "What's happened here, Brother? The stairs were fine when I went to bed."

Hypnos raised his hands in a "What can you do?" gesture.

"I dunno. I went to take a nice little morning walk after Mom and Chaos had left, and my foot went right through the step! Crazy stuff. Just glad I survived."

Zagreus chuckled, eyes alight with mirth. "Don't think it woulda kill you, mate, but I'm glad you didn't get hurt nonetheless."

He looked to Thanatos and said, "I could come back later if you want to catch some more rest."

Looking at the stairs rather than Zagreus, he replied, "No, don't stop on my account. I'm already awake. You might as well finish, else my brother might fall to his death."

"We wouldn't want that!" Hypnos exclaimed.

"We'll see," Thanatos said, turning to retreat into the cabin. Behind him, an outraged sort of cry from Hypnos almost covered the muffled laughter of Zagreus. But only almost. 

"This should only take me a few minutes to finish up," Zagreus said. "Why don't you join us in the hall for breakfast once I'm done?"

"Yeah, mandatory family time!" Hypnos said as cheerily as ever.

"Well, my family will be there, too." Zagreus looked back at Thanatos and smiled. "Hopefully that makes the 'mandatory' part better, not worse."

There was a pointed absence of thought in Thanatos's mind when he said that. He scrambled for something, anything, coherent to respond. Something that would be appropriately polite. Something that wouldn't humiliate him in front of his ever-watchful brother. For someone so eternally sleepy, the man was equally nosy.

"Breakfast sounds...nice," he managed. He thought he saw the tiniest slip in Zagreus's smile, but it was gone the instant it appeared.

"Great! I'll just, uh, get this done, then."

Thanatos nodded curtly, shot a final glare at his grinning brother, then retreated back inside to dress properly.

The banging of Zagreus's work was gone by the time he finished, and when he re-emerged from the cabin the man was leaning against on of the front porch's pillars. He stared idly out over the campgrounds, over the lake laid out before them. Morning light hit his darker eye just so, revealing the myriad of colors mixed within. He parted his lips to sigh softly, drawing Thanatos's eye.

"Something bothering you?" he asked as he closed the door behind him. One hand slid into his pock to check for the key. 

Zagreus looked over his shoulder and pushed off from the pillar. "Hey there, Than. No, nothing at all. Just lost in thought."

"Certainly a beautiful place for that," Thanatos said, looking out over the lake before turning around to lock the cabin. There was a good chance he was locking out, at minimum, his brother and grandfather, but someone had to be responsible in the family.

"I used to want nothing more than to get as far away as possible," Zagreus told him, eyes unfocused. 

"I can imagine any one place could become a prison under the right circumstances. But that changed?"

Zagreus nodded. "Well, maybe I changed."

"Hm. Profound."

He met Than's eyes and grinned, back in the moment as that charming, almost cocky self. "I wouldn't say that. Just comes with age, you know. Having my mother back helps. I'm sure Nyx told you the story."

Thanatos stepped away from the door and down the steps, Zagreus falling in just a half step ahead to lead him along the lake. "You'd be surprised by how little my mother shares."

He laughed. "Actually, I can imagine it. Well, it's a long story but the short of it is my mother was gone for a long time. Didn't know I was still around. Again, long story. Boring as anything, but she's back now."

"And that's make it better here?"

He nodded. "Makes it easier to get along with my father, for one. Besides, she's the type that sort of...breathes life into everything around her. I don't know. I'd say it was because she's my mother, but I've seen her do it to everyone and everything around her."

"I remember her from when I was young," Thanatos told him, and Zagreus's attention flew to him in an instant. "Vague memories, more like feelings, really."

"It's more than I have," Zagreus said softly, as though he hadn't intended it to be said aloud. 

"I remember her being as you said, is what I mean."

Zagreus nodded, shooting a smile at him to ease that little bit of tension emanating from him. They walked in silence for a time, Thanatos admiring the lake and absolutely not the man walking between him and the lake. At all.

As they reached the bulk of camp, falling onto the dirt path padded with use, Zagreus spoke. "I was wondering, do you know why your mother never visited these past years? My understanding is she and my father were friends as well."

Thanatos sighed. "I couldn't say. She doesn't share much, as you've noticed. Work became taxing for her, though I do know she and Hades worked together from time to time still. Raising us on her own as we grew must have taken its toll. Or maybe she found it difficult to visit, for some reason related to your mother."

"Parents," Zagreus said, shaking his head. 

"Needlessly complicated."

"Exactly." He scoffed. "Gods forbid they just talk about their feelings, or share anything, at all. Especially with their adult children."

Thanatos smiled. "I doubt any parent ever truly sees their child as an adult, Zagreus. Some of us make it harder than others."

Zagreus jolted more upright, almost shocked and fading into amusement. "Was that a joke? At my expense, no less?"

"You just seem committed to having fun around here," he explained, trying to flatten his smile. "It isn't a bad thing."

"From what Hypnos tells me, you could learn a thing or two from me," Zagreus teased, elbowing him lightly. 

"And I'm certain your father would say the same of you."

He laughed, leading him up the steps into the mess hall. "My father is uptight enough for the whole family. Any more of that, and the place would turn to stone."

As they stepped inside, the smell of warm, heavy breakfast enveloped them. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, waffles, fruit, the whole lot was splayed out on a long counter at the far end under heating lamps and safety covers. 

Long rows of tables sat in orderly lines, small gatherings of people clustered here and there. He could see his family along with the famed Persephone in one corner. His mother made eye contact, and they shared a nod of greeting.

"Oh, good morning Zagreus," said a feminine voice. He turned to notice a young woman clad in an apron and gloves, hair in many braids and dyed a striking green.

"Hey Dusa, how is your morning?" Zagreus asked.

"Oh, it's really good! Great, even. Just busy, busy, as always." She turned her attention to Thanatos. "Hi there! My name is Dusa. I work here at the camp, mostly around the main camp, but I can help with anything you need, sir."

"Ah, thank you, Miss Dusa," he said.

"This is Thanatos," Zagreus introduced. "He's with Nyx's family."

Her eyes lit up in recognition and...was that fear? "Oh. Oh! Nyx! Yes, um, well, I ought to get back to work."

"Keep up the great work, Dusa, but don't overwork yourself." 

She flushed, tucking a braid back behind her ear. Thanatos's eyes flicked between the two, but no. It seemed one-sided. He relaxed a little.

Dusa hurried off, and Zagreus led him around the opposite wall from their families to get their food. As they filled their trays, Zagreus offered his suggestions and insight.

"Dusa made the pancakes and waffles today, so they're a good choice. I'd stay away from the bacon unless you like it extra crispy, though. She overdoes it sometimes. Achilles put out the fruit, and he always puts the better bowls behind the worse ones so people go through them first. So go for the back bowls for that."

Thanatos chuckled as he followed the instructions. "You know this place well."

He shrugged. "It's kind of my entire world."

Thanatos watched him for just a moment, thinking what that might have meant for a person. The campgrounds were beautiful. Nature had its many charms. But a campgrounds clearly geared for adults, the only people around consistently either employees or his distant father, the idea suddenly felt constricting. As if the trees around them began to grow, to close in and make the camp ever-smaller.

The air here was so clean, but for a moment he could imagine it suffocating a younger Zagreus.

They gathered some juice and went to their families, Hypnos greeting them cheerily as they took the last two seats. Zagreus sat next to his mother, and Thanatos between him and Chaos. They were quiet at first, eating while their food was warm and the older folks were talking.

Thanatos remained a little distracted, stealing glances at Zagreus beside him and wondering. Thanatos had grown up in a world without borders, in a sense. His family travelled, together and separately for work. Especially him. Home wasn’t a place, more a feeling. More about people and rest. It certainly wasn’t a cage.

Zagreus lived in a world devoid of many people - certainly few he could really forge bonds with. No people, no rest, and a physical and metaphorical barrier of trees growing dense beyond separation at the edges of the campgrounds. 

When he looked at him, he got the overwhelming sense of something just under Zagreus’s skin. Something wanting to burst. The boundless energy, the friendly manner, the liveliness and charm. It could all mean he simply needed outlet for that something.

Zagreus caught him looking and smiled, no judgement or question behind his eyes. Than return a small smile and turned to his plate. His mother had insisted he come on this trip, even when she hadn’t forced any other child. Hypnos had just agreed on his own, but Charon and his sisters were allowed to remain. 

“You need a break, child,” she’d told him. 

Had she meant that? Or had she, too, seen something just under his skin?

Two people, opposite backgrounds in many senses, both brimming with a something that needed an outlet. It was a recipe for disaster, and he wasn’t certain he wanted any part in that.


End file.
